There are only little data on the risk of chronic complaints (pain and discomfort) following open non-mesh sutured repairs of small umbilical or epigastric hernias. Our primary and secondary endpoints were long-term pain and discomfort at rest, respectively and thirdly recurrence. The setup was a retrospective two-centre study including patients ≥18 years undergoing primary elective open non-mesh sutured umbilical or epigastric hernia repairs. The survey included questions on suspicion of recurrence, reoperation for recurrence (if yes patients were examined by a consultant in patients home), pain, discomfort, work, and leisure activities. We analysed 295 consecutive patients through a non-validated structured questionnaire.